Bolshoi Ballet Director Injured In Acid Attack04:54

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Sergei Filin, center, poses with members of the Bolshoi Theater company in September 2011. (Mikhail Metzel/AP)

The artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, 42-year-old Sergei Filin, may lose his eyesight, after a masked man threw acid in his face as he was leaving his apartment building in Moscow late Thursday.

Filin, a former Bolshoi star, became director of the famed Bolshoi Theater two years ago.

He immediately drew fire decisions he made, such as hiring American ballet star David Hallberg as a principal dancer, and giving Hallberg the starring role on the night the company's theater re-opened after extensive renovations.